How To Get Rid Of Fruit Flies In The House
how to get rid of fruit flies in the house
Are you struggling with fruit flies taking over your kitchen? Here’s a simple and effective DIY fruit fly trap that uses just two ingredients to help you get rid of them in no time!
The Best Way to Banish Fruit Flies and Gnats
It seems like the moment a banana goes bad in the warmer months, fruit flies appear out of nowhere. It’s one of the most frustrating things—having those tiny flies or gnats swarming around your kitchen. Gross!
To get rid of these pests, I’ve found an easy and super effective solution—a DIY fruit fly trap. Trust me, I’ve tried a lot of methods, and this one really works.
The best part? It’s chemical-free. All you need is some dish soap and apple cider vinegar. In just a few minutes, you can have a trap ready to go, and you’ll likely see results within hours. But be warned—you might want to replace the trap sooner than later because it’ll quickly fill up with flies.
One thing to keep in mind, though: in addition to setting the trap, you’ll need to find and eliminate the source of the problem. Whether it’s an overripe banana or an old potato, if you don’t remove what’s attracting the flies, more will keep showing up no matter how many traps you set.
What Attracts Fruit Flies?
Fruit flies are those small, harmless but annoying little flies that tend to invade your kitchen, especially in the summer. They don’t bite, but they reproduce rapidly, which is why it can feel like they appear out of nowhere.
As their name suggests, fruit flies are drawn to ripe or fermenting fruit, but they can also be attracted to vegetables, garbage (especially with organic waste), damp mops or rags, and even empty bottles or cans. They’re especially fond of fermented drinks like beer, wine, or liquor.
What You’ll Need for the Trap
You only need two simple ingredients to make this effective fruit fly trap:
- Apple cider vinegar: The strong smell of vinegar lures the flies in.
- Dish soap: This traps the flies by reducing the surface tension of the vinegar, causing them to sink.
You’ll also need a small bowl and some plastic wrap to complete the setup.
How to Make the DIY Fruit Fly Trap
It only takes a few minutes to make this trap:
- Mix the vinegar and dish soap: Pour some apple cider vinegar into a bowl, enough to cover the bottom. Add a few drops of dish soap.
- Cover the bowl: Use plastic wrap to tightly cover the bowl. Poke a few small holes in the top using a toothpick or skewer so the flies can enter.
- Set it out: Place the bowl where you’ve seen the most flies, and let it sit overnight.
- Dispose and replace: By the next day, you’ll likely find the trap full of flies. Dump it out and set a fresh one if needed.
In my experience, you can even skip the plastic wrap, and the trap will still work pretty well. But if you don’t cover it, some of the flies might escape before they’re caught.
How Long Will It Take?
You should start seeing results within a few hours, especially if the trap is placed near the area where the flies are most concentrated. Keep in mind that fruit flies breed rapidly, so to fully get rid of them, you’ll need to address the root cause—whether that’s tossing out overripe fruit or taking out the garbage. Otherwise, you may need to reset the trap frequently as new flies continue to hatch.
